A Just Stop Oil interview descended into chaos as Sky News host Mark Austin begged a protester: “Please stop shouting at me”.
The interview between spokesperson Indigo Rumbelow and Austin came hours before the group announced on Friday it would stop its disruption of the M25 which had resulted in multiple arrests.
Asked by Austin why the group was using these tactics, Ms Rumbelow said: “‘I am sure that you will agree that we are in an incredibly grave situation, in climate crisis.
“The climate crisis is disrupting people around the world right now.
“Even here in the UK this summer we saw the effects of the climate crisis with the UK getting 40 degree heat, birds falling out of the sky, pensioners dying before they should.”
After the Sky News anchor said the group’s message was being lost on those whose lives are disrupted by the protests, Ms Rumbleblow said: “I’m 28, this is 27th COP conference and what has happened, every single year the emissions have risen and risen.
“If you were doing your job properly everyone would be out on the street.”
She asked Austin whether he was a parent, before saying: “Do you love your children more than you love fossil fuels?
“We are asking you to side with young people who are asking our government very politely in line with the UN saying that we need to cut out fossil fuels.”
Austin replied during the heated interview: “Stop shouting at me Indigo!”
It came hours before the protest group said they were halting action to disrupt the M25 from Friday.
In a statement after activists targeted the motorway over four days this week, the group said: “From today, Just Stop Oil will halt its campaign of civil resistance on the M25.
“We are giving time to those in Government who are in touch with reality to consider their responsibilities to this country at this time.
“We ask that the Prime Minister consider his statement at Cop27, where he spoke of the catastrophic threat posed by the ravages of global heating, the 33 million people displaced by floods in Pakistan, and the moral and economic imperative to honour our pledges.
“You don’t get to recycle words and promises - you owe it to the British people to act.”
Emma Brown, from Just Stop Oil, did not say whether the protest group would resume action on the M25.
She told BBC Radio ‘s Today programme: “We are giving the Government another chance to sit down and discuss with us and meet our demand, which is the obvious no-brainer that we all want to see, which is no new oil in the UK."
She would not say whether campaigners could return to the M25 if their demands are not met, but said: “How can we stop? This is a risk to our lives and to the lives of you and all of your listeners, so we can’t stop.”
Protests on the motorway began Monday with dozens arrested, with senior Met officers describing the action as “criminality”.
“This was a very significant and co-ordinated effort to cause massive disruption to the entirety of the M25," Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said.
Protests followed on Tuesday and Wednesday, with a police motorcyclist hurt in a collision which also involved two lorries at a rolling roadblock on the M25 on Wednesday.
Essex Police Chief Constable BJ Harrington warned it is “only a matter of time” before someone is killed during a JSO protest.
Fresh disruption on Thursday led to several arrests, including the arrest of a woman about 1.5 miles before junction 28 for the A12 by Essex Police.
Surrey Police also made two arrests and removed two people from gantries, while the Met made one arrest.
The Met said Thursday that eleven people have been charged for causing a public nuisance, following disruption by Just Stop Oil on the M25.
The group staged 32 days of disruption from the end of September and throughout October, which Scotland Yard said resulted in 677 arrests with 111 people charged, and officers working a total of 9,438 additional shifts.
According to protesters, its supporters have been arrested more than 2,000 times since its campaign began on April 1.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak has pledged that his Government is "moving ahead" with legislation to give the police more powers to stop protests like Just Stop Oil.
His comments came after Conservative MP for Runnymede and Weybridge Ben Spencer said in the Commons that the M25 protests were "causing disruption and misery to my constituents, including causing problems of access to my local hospital".
In his reply, Mr Sunak said "we are moving ahead with legislation to give the police the powers they need to stop this type of extremist protesting".
